Our Service for Whistleblowers
As an employee, you may be obliged to raise a concern about your employer’s practices at some point in your career. In so doing, you may require advice regarding how to blow the whistle so that you qualify for relevant whistleblower protections. You may also be worried about the repercussions of blowing the whistle and require advice on any detriment suffered as a consequence.
Our Employment lawyers are very experienced in advising individuals on the rights and protections afforded to whistleblowers. We also assist whistleblowers in asserting their rights not to be unfairly and unlawfully treated as a consequence of having made a protected disclosure in the public interest, including suffering detriment or dismissal.
Examples of whistleblowing include:
- Criminal offences;
- Breach of any legal obligation;
- Miscarriages of justice;
- Danger to the health and safety of any individual;
- Damage to the environment; or
- The deliberate concealing of information about any of the above.
Who Our Employment Lawyers Work For
If you're a high-level executive, board member, partner, or professional, we possess the expertise required to assist you in whistleblowing while safeguarding your reputation and career prospects.
Sometimes, employees face adverse treatment at work following a whistleblowing event. Should you encounter any of the following, please get in touch:
- Modifications to your role, limiting your responsibilities, or a demotion
- Termination of employment
- Bullying, harassment or hostile treatment
- Withholding of benefits and bonuses
- Unfounded allegations of subpar performance
- Coercion into resigning
We're here to guide you through internal grievance procedures and represent your interests to your employer. In cases where the work environment deteriorates to the point of untenability, we're also on hand to negotiate a fair severance package for you.
Why Work With Our Employment Team?
Our specialist team of employment solicitors is described in the independent Legal 500 directory as “excellent” and is highly recommended by clients and legal professionals in the Legal 500. Therefore, you can be reassured that you will deal with some of the best employment solicitors in the country.
In particular, our employment lawyers offer:
- City centre standards of employment law advice and service levels due to our policy of recruiting only the best specialist employment solicitors.
- Clear and straightforward UK employment law advice that is user-friendly, pragmatic, and commercial.
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We are proud to have been recognised as the “Employment Team of the Year” at the prestigious Manchester Legal Awards 2024.
- Extensive experience in advising various employees including senior executives, directors and partners with complex employment contracts and service agreements.
- A credible team of employment law solicitors that are used to dealing with and providing legal representation against large employers and law firms on behalf of our clients.
- A partner-led service and a genuinely accessible team of experienced employment law solicitors due to our size, structure, and unique culture.
- Cost-effective support tailored to your unique employment issues and certainty on costs where you need it.
- Stay informed with our Employment Law Updates page for expert guidance and insights.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Whistleblower?
Employment law provides wide-ranging protection for whistleblowers at work.
To achieve whistleblower protection, individuals must ensure that they reasonably believe the disclosure is in the public interest, has relevant content, and has been raised in an appropriate manner. Whistleblowers will also need to consider whether to use any internal whistleblowing policy that the employer has adopted.
How are whistleblowers protected?
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, whistleblowers are protected from unfair dismissal (including constructive dismissal). This means that if you are dismissed or forced to resign because of your whistleblowing, you have been unfairly dismissed and are entitled to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal.
Can you be awarded compensation for blowing the whistle?
Whistleblowers are also entitled to compensation in the Employment Tribunal if they are subjected to a detriment as a result of blowing the whistle. This could include, for example, being subjected to disciplinary action, a demotion or the loss of a benefit as a result of making a disclosure.
The level of protection afforded to whistleblowers is higher than the norm and includes the following:
- No qualifying period of employment is required to make a whistleblowing claim;
- Employment Tribunal awards are unlimited and can include awards for “injury to feelings” similar to those made in discrimination cases. There are a number of examples where whistleblowers have been awarded compensation in the hundreds of thousands of pounds;
- The protection is afforded not only to employees but also to former employees, directors, contractors, agency workers and some partners and LLP members.
Where can you find more information about Employment Tribunal claims?
You can find more information about our Employment Tribunal service and costs information here.
Testimonials
Mr Tolmac
First and foremost, your team’s courteous, understanding, and professional approach stands out. The way they clearly and thoroughly explained everything I needed to know reflects a genuine passion for what they do. When people truly enjoy their work, delivering the best possible results becomes second nature; and that is something everyone deserves.
Mr. Deradour
Jack has been so good with me; very supportive and personal.
Mr. Hughes Gareth
Amy was professional, informative, working for me and advised me of her ideas and suggestions. It felt collaborative. She's an asset to you.
Mr. Mayers
Made it very easy. Great communication. I felt very confident every step of the way.
Mr. Heald
The service was excellent. Vicki was not only very professional, but timely in her responses and understanding of key timelines. I would definitely use Myerson again.
Mr. A
Anjali Brown made was amazing to work with. She was very professional and knowledgeable. She explained everything. Made me feel comfortable and at ease with everything that was going on. I was very happy with the outcome and felt that Anjali had worked hard on my behalf and had respected my wishes.
Alannah
Vicki Fagan recently helped me with an employment matter and she was fantastic from start to finish, she gave clear, honest advice, and was always on hand to quickly answer any questions I had. She was friendly and professional at all times and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her.
Mr. Holt
Fantastic service - friendly, fast, and they inform you exactly what your options are.
Natalie Chapman
Charlotte was extremely helpful, supportive, and proactive with my case. Communication was excellent, and I felt I was in professional and safe hands. Thank you
Mrs. Witts
Jack Latham was very informative, supportive and took his time to go through the settlement agreement process I had with my employer.
Mrs. Cottrell
Great service with quick turnaround and pragmatic approach to advising me. Thorough legal review. Joanne Henderson was very easy to work with.
Mr S
1st Class experience. Great advice, very responsive and understanding. Helpful and knowledgeable and helped to achieve a great outcome. I Would highly recommend.
Mr Pearse
Jack Latham was quick to assess the situation and handled my case professionally and efficiently.
Susan
Efficient service. I had the pleasure of working with Vicki, who was extremely efficient and helpful. She communicated well and was very clear in outlining her actions and following these through promptly. She raised points which proved really useful and I valued her insight. I found her very professional.
Martyn
Professional service provided for a personal legal matter. I would highly recommend this firm. The Solicitor assigned to me was personable and highly knowledgeable, ensuring that my matter was dealt with due care and attention.
Laura
Jack Latham was incredible. Amazing solicitor who was first class in delivering advice.
Ed
Myerson Solicitors were recommended to me. Even on my initial contact I was immediately at ease by the manner in which my cold call was answered and dealt with. A great company to deal with at all levels from reception right up to senior partners. Would definitely recommend to others.
Jeff Abbott
Myersons were recommended to me and they didn’t disappoint. The issue I engaged them for was time sensitive and they managed to get everything squared away very quickly but without compromising the quality of the work or my understanding of the process. Excellent service all round and I would happily recommend them to friends and family.
Legal 500, 2019
The 'commercially savvy' Joanne Evans leads Myerson Solicitor's employment department.
Legal 500, 2020
A very personal and professional team that we treat as an extension of our team. They always are responsive to our needs which can be at short notice given how our business is run which is brilliant for us and we value this service so much.
Legal 500, 2020
They are a really good alternative to the bigger city firms. They have the skills without some of the frills and formality.
Legal 500, 2020
Myerson Solicitors are at the very top of their field. They are extremely knowledgeable, personable, reliable and provide outstanding personal service. Each issue they have dealt with has been carried out extremely thoroughly – sometimes being given very short notice.
Miss N.Kay
Dealing with stress and leaving a company can be very emotive, but having Myerson and being represented by Charlotte was invaluable to me. She explained everything in detail, in a way I could understand, making my exit from work less stressful. Charlotte's legal acumen and knowledge of employment law was fantastic and she liaised directly with my company and removed the stress from dealing with any legalities. I have no hesitation in recommending Myerson- the service outstanding.
Mary
The solicitor appointed successfully negotiated an improved package in a timely manner. Without Myerson Solicitors' assistance, I would have left the organisation with minimal financial compensation and not on good terms. The solicitor's professional intervention not only facilitated a reasonable settlement but provided a 'calming' influence at a most stressful time.
Gary Haynes
Joanne Henderson represented me and over 40 of my former colleagues in a long, complex and highly charged TUPE group action. Joanne is extremely knowledgeable in her field, with a real ability to focus on the specific legal issues at hand, weed out all the irrelevance and make a strong and clear case. I would heartily and without hesitation recommend Joanne to anyone with an employment law issues.
Our Whistleblowing Experience
Case Study 1: Tribunal claim for the automatic unfair dismissal of a Finance Director
Dealing with an Employment Tribunal claim where allegations of financial irregularities had been raised by the Finance Director, and he had been dismissed as a result.
Case Study 2: Senior Vice President subjected to detrimental treatment, following him reporting criminal behaviour
Acting for a Senior Vice President in a large multinational media conglomerate. Our client reported criminal behaviour by a colleague. He was then subjected to various detriments in his employment by senior figures in the global group structure and was ultimately dismissed, purportedly by reason of redundancy. We brought claims for unlawful detriment and automatic unfair dismissal due to whistleblowing and represented the executive in the Tribunal to a satisfactory conclusion. We also robustly and successfully challenged the company’s refusal to disclose documents in the course of proceedings.
Case Study 3: Tribunal claim following resignation in light of health and safety and environmental concerns being ignored
Advising an employee on the merits of a potential whistleblowing claim against his employer following his resignation. The employee had continuously raised detailed health and safety and environmental concerns to his employer, who provided a service transporting vulnerable and disabled members of the general public. The employee’s concerns were ignored and the company continued to operate the service, causing him stress and embarrassment as he was the person responsible to the service users and the general public on behalf of the company. We attempted to engage in settlement discussions on behalf of our client but, when these did not progress, we assisted the employee with issuing his claims for automatic unfair dismissal and unlawful detriment connected to whistleblowing.
Case Study 4: Defending a Tribunal claim for detrimental treatment brought against a director/shareholder in his personal capacity
Acting for a director/shareholder of an insolvent company in a personal capacity in a claim by a former colleague of automatically unfair dismissal against the company and a detriment claim against our client personally for having made the decision to dismiss his former colleague. The case involved complex legal issues and considerable personal animosity between the parties. We successfully defended the claim for our client in the Employment Tribunal and secured a rare costs award against his unrepresented colleague on the basis that the claim was vexatious.
Case Study 5: Senior NHS employee dismissed, following them reporting regulatory breaches and criminal conduct
Advising a senior NHS employee on their whistleblowing Tribunal claim against their former NHS employer. The employee alleged that they had raised various serious concerns of public interest, including about regulatory breaches and criminal conduct at their NHS employer, and that they had been subjected to detrimental treatment by senior executives and, ultimately, dismissed because of their whistleblowing. This case involved us helping the employee navigate complex legal issues and providing strategic advice on how best to present their claim, as well as helping them successfully defend strike out and deposit order applications made by their employer.
Meet Our Employment Solicitors
Home-grown or recruited from national, regional or City firms. Our employment lawyers are experts in their fields and respected by their peers.
Charlotte Gilbert
Charlotte is the Head of Myerson HR and a Partner in our Employment Team
Contact Our Experts
You can contact our lawyers below if you have any more questions or want more information:
0161 941 4000
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